As silly as this might sound, many business owners seem to forget the fact that they are in business to make a profit (i.e. make money). Most owners, in fact, don’t have a plan for how they are going to make a profit this year, this quarter, this month. It doesn’t have to be that way.

One of the first things we do with our business coaching clients is to get them thinking about and pulling together a Profit Plan for the next 12 months. The Profit Plan is just what it sounds like: a plan for making a profit (click here to read our blog posting summarizing how to pull together a Profit Plan).

Once your Profit Plan is pulled together, the real fun starts. The execution and implementation of that Profit Plan! As discussed in our prior posting, it’s critical to get other folks in your organization involved so they can help with the execution of this plan.

One of the most important areas for you to focus on is that top line (i.e. the projected sales). What is being done by you and those in your organization to bring customers into your business?

Here are a couple of ideas for how to keep yourself and your organization focused on driving sales into your business:

1. Have a Clear (and Written) Goal For The Number of New Customers: now that you have your Profit Plan in place that shows how many sales in terms of dollars you’d like your organization to have, this dollar figure needs to be broken down into the number of customers required to achieve that figure. For instance, let’s suppose you are targeting $100,000 in new business this year. Will that come from one customer, 1,000 customers or something in between?
2. Break Marketing Activities Into Monthly & Weekly Buckets: marketing is what drives sales. In the end, all you can truly manage is your and your people’s activity. You cannot control who and when someone will actually buy your products and services. So once you have the goal for the number of new customers identified, the question to consider is, “what marketing activities will put us in front of those prospective customers so we can achieve our new sales goal?” Marketing activities basically break down into three categories: i) Short-Term (e.g. referrals, cold calls, direct mail), ii) Long-Term (e.g. networking, writing, strategic alliances), and iii) Passive (e.g. print advertising, web sites, promotional products). Once you’ve picked the strategies that work best for your business, you should put a schedule in place broken into weekly buckets that drive those activities. If you’d like the list of marketing activities or a sample of the schedule to track those activities, send me an email at adams@maximumvp.com and I’d be happy to forward you a copy.
3. Meet Regurlarly To Track Progress: with so much time and effort going into pulling together the Profit Plan, we’re amazed at how many people will then put the plan on the “shelf” and not refer back to it to measure their progress against the plan. Initially we would recommend that you and your marketing/sales team meet on a weekly basis to track the execution of your marketing plan. Is everyone doing what they agreed to do? Are things working as planned or do some adjustments need to be made? While it might be tempting to delay or skip some of these weekly meetings as things “get busy,” we strongly advise our clients to continue with those routines to get themselves and their organization into a better rhythm.
4. Adjust The Plan Sooner vs. Later: just because you signed off on your Profit Plan in December doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at it again until next December. As I’m sure you can appreciate, plans almost never go according to “the plan” (whether in business or your personal life). The key benefit of putting together a Profit Plan in the first place is to ensure that all the right discussions are happening within your organization and that all your key folks know what needs to be done. Once you and your team get into a rhythm, you’ll find yourself constantly tweaking the execution of your plan throughout the year. For instance, your initial Profit Plan may have called for sending out post cards once a month to generate new leads, but instead of getting a 1% response rate, you actually have received a 10% response rate. Why wouldn’t you want to increase the number of mailings sooner vs. later?

The above outlines the framework for how to drive one of the most important components of your Profit Plan, the top line. Having a plan that is constantly being tweaked and challenged during the execution phase is a key driver to making a profit in your business.

As David Sandler used to say, be a “fuzzy” source for your customers. For those of you not familiar with this terminology, it includes “warm fuzzies” and “cold pricklies.”

Warm fuzzies are those things that make other people feel good. It could be something as simple as a genuine compliment. It could be you sending a personal handwritten note to someone to let them know how much you appreciate them. Or it could simply be an article you find that you think might be of interest to someone. A warm fuzzy is basically anything that will provide that warm & fuzzy feeling

Cold pricklies, on the other hand, are those things that don’t feel so good. It could be a backhanded compliment that sounds nice at first, but it’s really a set up for a zinger to follow. Think Caddyshack and Rodney Dangerfield’s character talking to Ted Knight’s character in the pro shop: “Hey you buy a hat like this and I bet you get a free bowl of soup! (seeing Ted Knight’s character trying on the hat) Oh it looks good on you, though (while making an awkward face). Here is a YouTube link to the 30-second video in case you haven’t seen it before.

While you may not be that overtly “prickly” to your customers, you may do other things that prickle them. It could be that instead of calling them on the phone, you’ll email them or text them, when you know they prefer to talk on the phone. Maybe you give them a hard time when they want to return an item because they are not truly satisfied with it. Maybe you forget to return a phone call or two.

A good exercise for you and your team is to put together a list of all the ways you can be “warm fuzzies” to your clients and then make sure each of your people is giving out at least one warm fuzzy a day to existing and potential clients (by nature we tend to provide more warm fuzzies to prospects than we do to paying customers).

A key for retaining customers, whether it be in good times or bad, is to be a “warm fuzzy” source for them. As David Sandler used to say, “People don’t get rid of their fuzzy sources.”

Do you feel like you’re in control right now? I don’t know anyone who does. So take a deep breath, and as a small business owner, take confidence in the fact that you’re one of the most adjustable people on the planet. The ones who have it tough are those folks who have a job. That’s all they really have confidence in, that they can do their job. Not that they can adapt and change with the times.

I’m on a bit of a Dave Matthews Band kick these days. I’ve been listening to their latest album (Big Whiskey & The Groo Grux King) on and off for the past couple of weeks. Dave has a way with words.

There are two sets of lyrics in a song called Dive In that caught my attention because they address this “out of control” feeling:

“One day do you think we’ll wake up in a world on its way to getting better
And if so, can you tell me HOW”

AND

“I have been thinking that lately the blood is increasing
The touniquet’s not keeping hold in spite of our twisting
Though we would like to believe that we are, we are not in control
Though we would love to believe”

The first set of lyrics that talks about “waking up in a world on its way to getting better,” strikes at a chord for what we hear on a daily basis from business owners. Everyone we talk with is hoping things will get better, but no one is really sure quite how that is going to happen.

It’s quite easy in times when you feel out of control to simply shut down. To over-think things to the point that you’re driven to paralysis. In tougher and more uncertain times, the last thing you want to do is become paralyzed with fear.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed on a nearly daily basis with all the turmoil that is going on in the world. For many people, things they have taken for granted for decades are being turned upside down. And no one you talk to or listen to seems to have an answer that makes sense.

The key for you as a small business owner is to continue to plow ahead in search of answers to these questions. What you don’t want to do in these times is sit back on your heels and wait for something to happen to you. Most business owners we meet are in very strong positions to market their products and services. It’s just a matter of crafting that proper message and choosing the channel to distribute it through.

The lyrics about the “blood flow increasing” and the “tourniquet not keeping hold” brings visions of what’s been going on in the U.S. Banking industry over the past 18 months. No matter what the owners of these financial institutions try (and now what the U.S. Government is trying) nothing seems to be working to get the money flowing again (especially to small business owners).

The U.S. Government has taken some unprecedented steps to try to “fix” the current financial markets, but so far I’m not hearing anyone saying how that strategy is working so well on Main Street. This again goes back to the concept of being in control and wanting to believe we’re in control.

So how does all this boil down to your business? The first key is finding things that you can control and influence and focusing on those items first. For instance, while you cannot control someone making a decision to buy your products or services, you can control many things in your business when it comes to customers, including:

1. Your Marketing: this includes everything from which Target markets you will focus on to the Message that you deliver to that market to the Channels you utilize to deliver that Message. Your first job as the business owner is to help make sure that qualified prospective customers know about and come into contact with your business. It can be in-person, on the phone, walking into your location, sending you an email, etc.
2. Your Sales Techniques: this covers everything from the initial contact with your business to becoming a repeat customer. So, starting with the initial contact, how are people greeted when calling on the phone? Does the person answering the phone sound happy to be there or annoyed that the phone continues to ring? How long does it take your organization to respond to email or web site inquiries? How is someone greeted upon first entering your location? Are they greeted with a warm and inviting smile where they feel welcomed? When current customers contact your business, are they responded to quickly or do days and/or weeks go by before someone gets back to them? If you and your staff have no selling system and have never been trained in sales before, now might be a good time to start getting those systems and that training in place.
3. Performance of Your Products/Services: one thing we assume with most of our business coaching clients is that their respective products & services have a demand in the market. Usually they’ve been in business for several years or decades. What is good to do though is to make sure that your products and services are constantly being maintained and improved so your customers will continue to buy from you.

Again, the key here is to focus on what you can control, and not waste time and energy worrying about something over which you have no control. If you spend too much time focusing on things you can’t control, chances are you’ll be out of business sooner vs. later because your competition is focusing on what they can control.

So, how do you get comfortable when you realize you’re not in control? You have to have the confidence that you can adjust. If you don’t have confidence in yourself and your ability to adjust, then you’ll never have the confidence you’ll need to be successful.

One of the constants with any successful person you study is how often they change. Everybody changes and grows (whether they want to or not). So embrace the change. Make sure you’re the one who is making the choice to change instead of having it forced upon you by someone outside your business.

When you feel “out of control” the best thing to do is refocus on the things that you can control. The items I’ve highlighted above are just a few of the things you can control. Your attitude is something each of us can control. Like it or not, you choose every day you wake up what attitude you’ll bring to that day. Why not make it a positive and productive one? You may find out you feel more in control!

A great clarifying question to figure out if you Trust someone or if they Trust you is to ask, “Am I comfortable introducing this person to someone else and are they comfortable introducing me?”

At the end of the day, that’s what it all boils down to. And the answer to that question will be different depending on the person. For instance, I’d be comfortable introducing my partner Jack to anyone I Know, Like, and Trust (”KLT”).

On the other hand, there are folks in my Rotary Club who I would only be comfortable introducing to certain people. It’s not that I don’t Trust them. It’s just that the level of Trust I have with them is different from what I have with Jack.

So why is that and how do I maintain and/or increase the level of Trust I have with people?

Two of the best ways we have found to build and maintain Trust are:

Spend Time, and
Help

Since Jack and I spend a lot of time together and we help each other on a daily basis, we have a very high level of Trust. Certain folks in my Rotary Club I will see only once in a while and we haven’t done anything to help each other, so our resulting level of Trust is pretty low.

So what does it mean to Spend Time with somebody or to Help them? Let me give you a few simple examples.

Spending Time with someone can simply mean sharing a meal or a cup of coffee. It could mean sharing a hobby or extracurricular activity that you each enjoy (e.g. hunting, snowboarding, visiting a museum, golfing, etc.). Or it could be getting involved in the leadership or on the board of a service organization or a local non-profit that you both enjoy.

Chances are the reason you Know and Like someone is because you have a common interest or bond. So Spend Time with them on a regular basis doing one of those activities. At the very least you both have to eat right?!

Help can be as simple as listening to someone when they need someone to talk to about things. It could also mean introducing your KLT folks to each other. Why? Because chances are your KLT folks can help each other. But they have to Know each other first. Help also means saying “yes” when one of your KLT folks asks for your help. And doing it with a smile!

So what are you doing to build and maintain Trust on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual basis? If you’re not focused on this, you should be. It’s the #1 driver of success in your business.

As covered in a previous post (click here for a link to the post “How Do I Get More Referrals”), the key to getting more referrals in your business is to help the people who Know, Like, and Trust (”KLT”) you to refer you more often.

While everyone reading this (including you) has a list of people who KLT you, this is a list you should constantly be growing. The more folks who KLT you and your business, the more referrals you will receive.

Here are a couple of tips for how to grow the Know portion of your list:

1. Networking: there’s no better way to meet new people than to get out there and get belly to belly with people at networking functions. When it comes to business, here are some suggestions for where to network: i) Tip Clubs (e.g. BNI, LeTip); ii) Business Groups (e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Toastmasters, Economic Development Groups); iii) Civic/Community Activities (e.g. Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, local park/nature center); iv) Faith Based Groups (e.g. church/synagogue, bible study groups, spiritual retreats); v) Online (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter); and vi) Your Other Interests (e.g. hobbies, kids/grandkids activities, PTA).
2. Public Speaking: figure out where your target market congregates in groups and see if they have regular events where they have speakers who address the group. Take a look at the list above in #1 for places to network for some ideas if you’re drawing a blank. One key thing to keep in mind when speaking to groups is that YOU SHOULD NOT TRY TO SELL YOUR STUFF! If you are speaking to a group, make sure your message delivers some sort of value to that group. For instance, I recently spoke to a newly formed Kiwanis Club that was looking for some ideas of how to recruit and retain new members. So the fact that I’m a business coach came up as part of my introduction, but my entire message was directed to helping the group.
3. Help People/Make Introductions/Refer People: I have quite often found that when I make introductions for someone to help them out, they feel the need to reciprocate and will introduce me to someone to help me out as well.
4. Get on Boards: take a look at the groups you are currently involved with to see if there is an opportunity for you to get more involved by joining the Board of Directors. If you’re not involved in any groups like that, find some non-profit that is of interest to you and find out how you can get involved.
5. Write: if you enjoy writing, there are many outlets in today’s world to get your message out. Everything from blogs and Twitter to the local newspaper and trade association magazines.
6. Trade Shows: get a booth or at least visit and “work the floor” at some trade shows in the industries you are targeting to make sure you are meeting the right people.
7. Press Releases: don’t be afraid to get the word out about your business. This is a great way to get some “free” publicity.
8. Host Your Own Events: these can be anything from a networking/after-hours event to a holiday party. The key is everyone wants to meet the host at these parties.
9. Radio/TV: while this investment can be relatively expensive in terms of dollars (the prior suggestions are more an investment of time vs. money), this can still be an effective way to get your name out in front of people.
10. Direct Mail: there’s a reason people keep sending direct mail (you may refer to it as “junk” mail), it’s because it works when done well and in volume.
11. Sponsorships: similar to Speaking, if you can find places where your target market congregates on a regular basis (e.g. annual golf outings and trade shows) then sponsorship can help to get your name in front of the right people.

OK you say, that’s a pretty long list. But where do I start? While I believe Networking and Speaking are the top 2 ways to get to know more people, they aren’t the only ways.

The simple answer to the question of “where to start” is to look at where your referrals have come from in the past and build on that. For instance, if 20% of your business comes from Trade Shows, but you only attend one show per year, you should start looking for more trade shows to attend and perhaps at which to exhibit.

Keep in mind, growing your KLT list should be a lifelong pursuit. So the key is to get started if you haven’t already or to get moving on doing something new in the coming year. Let me know how you do.

If you want your business to get more referrals, it boils down to answering 2 simple questions:

1. Who should I ask for referrals?
2. How should I ask for referrals?

Let’s address the “Who” question first. In order for someone to refer you/your business, you’ll need the following three things:

Know
Like
Trust

Before someone will refer you, they have to Know that you exist. What are you doing to continually increase the number of people who Know you?

Next, chances are someone has to Like you/your business to refer you. Unless your product or service is so unique and can really solve someone’s problem, I’m guessing you aren’t being referred by too many people who don’t Like you. What are you doing to move those folks who Know you into the Like column?

Last, but certainly not least, you typically Trust the person you are referring. Trust can be defined in a multitude of ways, but it basically means that you believe that they can not only do the job well, but they won’t be a bozo when doing it and thus reflect poorly on you. Once somebody Knows and Likes you, what are you doing to move them into the bucket of people who Trust you?

So, if it’s as simple as getting the people who Know, Like, and Trust (”KLT”) you to refer you, why is it often so hard to get more referrals?

That’s where the “How” question comes in. In our experience of working with and owning small businesses, the number one source of new business (no matter the industry) is referrals/word-of-mouth. Even with that being the case, many businesses have no formalized strategy or system for “How” to ask for referrals.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when asking for referrals from your KLT list:

1. Ask for Help: this is a key word when engaging your KLT list. People who KLT you want to “help” you. Many people don’t want to necessarily “refer” you, but they do like to help. So if you’re one of those people who has trouble asking for help, get over yourself and just ask. No one I’ve met who is successful has done it by themselves. You won’t be any different.
2. Make It Easy: what I mean by this is don’t make your KLT person work too hard to figure out who they should introduce you to. It’s your job to put in the upfront time and work to narrow down your list of targets. This could be an actual list of companies and/or people you’d like to meet or it could be more broadly focused characteristics of the type of people you’d like to meet. For instance, for our business coaching, we’re looking to meet owners of companies that have 1-25 employees. That’s pretty broad. So we’ll break it into smaller groups. Underneath the umbrella of business owners with 1-25 employees, we’d like to meet those owners who have partners in their business (either family or non-family). This helps to narrow down the focus for our KLT person.
3. Don’t Try To Sell Your Stuff: now this may be counter-intuitive to some people. Keep in mind that your main purpose of getting introduced to someone from a KLT person is for you to get to Know that new person and begin to form a relationship with that new person. If as part of getting to Know that new person, an opportunity is created for them to buy your products or services, they will let you know. They’ll ask you, you won’t need to ask them.
4. Make Contact Quickly: when one of your KLT people goes out of their way to make an introduction to someone for you, be sure to contact that new person within 24 hours. That way it’s still fresh in their minds and your call will be warmly received.
5. Keep Your KLT Person in the Loop: this is one area where many people fall short and a big reason why they don’t receive more referrals. Once you’ve made contact with the new person, be sure to keep your KLT person informed. If you have scheduled a meeting with the person they introduced you to, let them know about the meeting and then after the meeting takes place, be sure to give them an update for how the meeting went. Don’t make them chase you down to see if you ever connected with their contact. And be sure to say thanks!

Think about KLT as 3 separate buckets or bars on a bar chart. Let’s say you Know 1,000 people. Chances are, only about 75% of those people you Know, actually Like you. So now we’re down to 750 people. Of those people who Know and Like you, chances are probably only about 10% - 15% actually Trust you. Which brings us to about 100 people who KLT you/your business.

While those 100 people who KLT you may be enough to get your business off the ground, chances are they are not enough to grow and sustain your business by themselves. So you and your business need to constantly be filling up your Know bucket and consistently and consciously moving them from K to L to T.

So what are you and your business doing to grow those three buckets? It all starts with growing your K bucket. Click here to check out a posting where I provide some suggestions for how to grow your K list.

Networking is one of those words that typically conjures up some sort of image in everybody’s brains. Some will be positive. Some negative. And some can take it or leave it.

One of the things I’ve noticed lately is that there seem to be a lot more people “networking” lately. Many for the first time or for the first time in a while.

The trouble is, most people are doing it wrong! I have a couple of reasons for why that might be and what you can do to avoid being one of those people who are networking in the wrong way:

1. Have a Plan: as silly as this sounds, it’s key to have a plan before you go into any networking function. You can pull together your plan on the way to the event, or in a couple of minutes in the parking lot after arriving at the event. Start with your purpose for attending the event. Is it to meet new potential prospects for your business? Did a customer invite you to the event? Are you supposed to meet someone in particular? Whatever the plan is, just get it straight in your head before walking in so you know why you’re there.
2. Don’t Hang With Friends: while you want to acknowledge and talk with people you already know for a few minutes, be careful not to spend the entire night talking with someone you already know. One of the main objectives of any networking is to meet new people.
3. Don’t Eat Or Drink Too Much: while most of these events will have some food and beverages available, remember that you’re there to “work”, not to stuff your face with jumbo shrimp and martinis.
4. Bring A Friend: for many people, just the thought of walking into a room full of people they don’t know gives them the heebie jeebies! A great way to get around this is to attend the event with a friend. Be careful to keep #2 in mind and don’t just hang out with your friend all night (you can do that some other time!). In fact, why not make it one of your goals to introduce 1, 2, or 3 people to your friend at the event who may be a good prospective customer for them. It’s often easier for someone else to open the door for you than having to do it yourself.

Keep a couple of other things in mind as well when networking. First, networking is a long-term marketing strategy. In short that means that it takes time to develop business because what you are doing is developing relationships. If you start networking thinking that it will lead to immediate business, chances are you will be frustrated and disappointed and you will quickly give up.

A second thing to remember is that the purpose of networking is to grow your list of people who Know, Like, and Trust you. It starts with the initial meeting of someone at an event who you didn’t Know before. The key is to do something either during or soon after the event to help move that new person you now Know from your Know bucket into the Like bucket and hopefully eventually into the Trust bucket. One of the best ways to start that process is to set up a time after the networking event to meet that person for breakfast, lunch, or coffee to see if your Know progresses to Like.

While networking is a long-term marketing strategy, there is no better time to start than today. If you continue to hold off on networking, in three months you will have wished you started today. So get out there and start adding people to your Know bucket!

I recently attended a retreat for a year-long leadership program I’m participating in called Leadership Lorain County. There are 45 people in my class. We walked in Wednesday afternoon as strangers for the most part. We left Friday as a team who knew and respected each other.

So if 45 of us could do this over the course of just under 48 hours, why do most business owners we speak with have trouble getting their employees on the same page?

There were a couple of things we did during the retreat that I believe really helped in building trust and respect early on. Here they are in order:

1. What’s Your Name: one of the biggest road blocks to creating bonding and rapport with a new group of people is getting to know everyone’s names. So instead of using name tags, we played the Name Circle game on the first night after dinner. In less than an hour, we not only knew each other’s names, we also had a sense for each person’s personality, we supported and started to trust each other, and many people had gotten out of their comfort zones. Here’s how the Name Circle game works. Everyone sits in a circle facing inward so everyone can see everyone else’s face. The person who starts uses an adjective that describes them and starts with the same letter as their first name (e.g. I was “Affable Adam”). The second person has to repeat the first person’s “nickname” and first name and then make one up for themselves. The third person has to repeat the first two people’s nicknames and first names and then make up one of their own, and so on. So the last person (in our case it was “Red Rick”) had to repeat the other 44 nicknames and first names. It was pretty cool to be a part of this!
2. What’s Your Style: we spent about 4 hours over the course of two days getting to know our personality styles through an assessment and a workshop. I’m a big believe in understanding as much as you can about your personal style. It helps you in so many ways. It basically makes you more effective in any situation (assuming you want to do your best in a given situation). So if you don’t understand and appreciate your own style, you certainly won’t be trying to figure out the styles of the rest of your team, your customers, your family, or anyone else. And you’ll just go through your world pretty much being your natural self all the time and wondering why everyone else can’t just simply be more like you!
3. What’s Your Bag: we were given the following homework assignment about two weeks prior to our retreat:

“Your assignment is to organize a bag that is a visual representation of your personality. Inside we would like you to consider including items that represent the following:
- A peak experience or moment.
- Something you have accomplished that you are proud of.
- Representation of your hopes and dreams.
- Something that gives you joy.
- Anything else that you want to share that will provide a unique glimpse of who you are and what is important to you.”

And, oh yeah, they asked us to keep our presentation to three minutes. While everyone took longer than 3 minutes, we accomplished the goal of “realizing and appreciating what we all have in common and the rich diversity in the collection of people.” How diverse is your organization of people?
4. Ropes Course: this is where we finished the retreat. What a great way to finish it off! We had to do four team exercises. Each was progressively more difficult and required more time and planning. Each exercise had a time limit and required all team members to participate in and complete the task. Because we had been through steps 1-3 above, we were able to better operate as a team and accomplish all four activities within the given timeframes. Each activity saw different people stand up to lead the way. It also saw each of us display an often unrecognized leadership skill: knowing “when” and “how” to follow someone else who articulates a good plan.

These are just a couple of ideas for what can be done to help create and build your team. What sorts of things do you do within your organization to build your team?

Fellow business coach Dennis Willis is also a member of my class and he posted his thoughts on what a great networking opportunity this is for him in this blog posting.

Do you have a “To Do List?” Most people have one or multiple ones these days. I’m on a mission to rid the world of To Do Lists! I say, throw them all away!

Eventually that “To Do List” becomes a “To Worry About List” because it continues to grow and you continue to beat yourself up and “worry” about everything you haven’t done yet.

There’s an easier way to get things done. SCHEDULE IT!

Instead of writing down a list of all the things you want to get done, do what SUCCESSFUL people have been doing for decades (and most likely centuries). They put things into their calendars.

I don’t care if you’re still using a paper-based Day Planner or the latest iPhone. With today’s technology, it’s easy to find a calendar that works for you.

So instead of a To Do List, here’s what I do to prioritize my tasks:

1. Do It Now: if something is urgent and important and will only take a few minutes, I’ll do it on the spot. It almost takes more time to find a To Do List and to write it down than it does to actually do the task.
2. Schedule It: if it’s important and takes more than a few minutes to complete, then I put an appointment into the calendar of my Palm Treo to remind me to complete the task. If it’s important enough for me to pay attention to it, then I should put it in my calendar so I remember to do it. The key is to schedule everything out at a future date and time. It could be something as simple as reminding yourself to print something out later tonight or to pick up some diapers on the way home. Or it could be an appointment with your customer or a meeting with your banker. Either way, you have it covered. Some things aren’t as time sensitive. Maybe you publish a monthly newsletter. Well, it doesn’t matter what day it gets out, just that it gets out during the month. So perhaps you set a reminder for yourself in the middle of the month that you should be working on it. It’s OK if it slips a few days or weeks, because it will still be done on time by the end of the month.
3. Delegate It: if I’m not the right person to get something done or if I can’t make time to complete the task before it’s due, I’ll make sure to delegate it to someone else who can.
4. Say No & Move On: I find that some of the biggest items that clutter up To Do Lists are things that you’ve promised someone else you’ll do, but they aren’t important enough to you to make time to do them. So you put them on your list with every intention of getting to it (“when you have time”), but the days and weeks and months go by and it doesn’t get done. Cut these things off from the start. If you can’t slot the item into numbers 1-3 above, then the task is probably better suited for someone else to get it done. Don’t add it to your list and create more stress for yourself.

Do something as simple as following the above 4 steps and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and money. You won’t need to buy and read those books and attend those seminars to help you “manage your time” better.

Make sure you don’t overschedule yourself. But make sure you don’t have any “empty” time on your calendar either. Something can always fill in that empty space. Just schedule in your most time sensitive and important tasks and you’ll make sure you always get the key things done…like attend your son’s T-ball games!

I was watching the movie Doc Hollywood the other night. It’s a movie I’ve seen a few times over the years. For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a link to a quick synopsis.

A couple of things struck me seeing this film at this time in our history here in the United States:

1. We’ve Lost Our Way: simpler in many cases is better. That “great America” that everyone is talking about isn’t what we’ve been doing these past couple of decades. We’ve all gotten too busy working to buy stuff we want but don’t necessarily need. Many of us have lost touch with friends and our families because we’re always working to support our lifestyles. Doc Hollywood is set in small town America and represents a very attractive way to live. Everyone knows each other so you naturally look out for each other. Everyone has a certain job in town, whether it be the butcher, the mayor, the mechanic, or the doctor. I know that both Jack and I relate to this. We’ve both spent a lot of time traveling and living in different cities for bigger companies that we worked with. We’ve both chosen to come back to Cleveland, OH where we both grew up because we appreciate what a smaller town has to offer.
2. We Have To Slow Down: life goes by pretty quick, and if you’re always working, chances are you’re going to miss a lot of it. It’s OK to unplug once in a while. Turn off the iPhone or BlackBerry. Forget about email for a while. We should be disconnected from the outside world on a more regular basis. Quite often we’re too caught up in what everyone else is doing instead of being focused on what is going on in our own lives. In the movie, Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox’s character) was always rushing. The movie starts with him leaving his current job working in an Emergency Room on the East Coast to go to Beverly Hills to become a plastic surgeon. That is until he gets stuck in a small town in South Carolina after an accident. Once he embraces being there, he begins to slow down a bit and starts to really live a little.
3. You Should Define What’s Important To Make You Happy: many of us get caught up in being influenced too much by the outside world. Whether that be your friends and family, or the general media. It’s good to see what other people think about something, but make sure you form your own opinion. In the case of Ben Stone, he was running away from the small town life he’d grown up with to chase his dreams in the big city. Until he realized those “material” things wouldn’t bring him true happiness.
4. House Calls Are Important: it can be easy to get into a routine in life. Get up in the morning, grab a bit to eat, take the same route to work, stay in the same building all day, get back in the car and take the same route home, eat dinner, put the kids to bed, maybe do some reading (whether it be email, books, or the internet) or watch a little TV. Then go to bed and get up in the morning to do it all again. One of the things that Ben Stone did was go on house calls to see his patients once a week. He made a comment that house calls used to be an important part of any doctor’s practice. That’s the only way they got to truly know their patients. By seeing how they live. We should be making “house calls” on our customers as well. Go visit your customers and see how they live. When you’re there, you’ll learn other things about them and how they run their business. You may even discover some opportunities for your business.
5. Experiential Marketing Works: people often need a chance to experience your product or service before they buy. In the case of Doc Hollywood, the judge ordered Ben to perform community service at the local clinic to make up for destroying the judge’s fence. The mayor took that opportunity to show Ben everything this small town had to offer. Within a few weeks, Ben went from not being able to wait to leave to not being able to go. As Jeffrey Gitomer always says, “People love to buy. They hate to be sold.” The mayor simply let Ben buy. We should all do the same thing with our prospective customers.

None of us knows where things are going in the U.S., but after seeing this movie again, I’m convinced that many of us here in the U.S. will be going back to a simpler kind of life.

Simpler will also do wonders in your business. Continue to make and nurture those personal relationships in your business. Those relationships are what will enable your business to survive and thrive over the decades.